A year has passed since Mani Gotovac, the theatrologist, dramaturg, theatre critic, editor, writer, the first woman to head the Croatian National Theatre, and the director of the Rijeka Theatre from 2003 to 2007, left us. She was born on November 12, the day on which we will premiere Carmen, an opera that she especially loved and for which she was the dramaturg in the performance directed by Jagoš Marković in 2004. We are therefore dedicating tomorrow’s premiere performance to her, a passionate lover of theatre, which for her was a space of freedom.
On this occasion, in this uncertain time not exactly conducive to theatre, let us remember her words:
“Theatre opens up a space of personal freedoms strengthened by the feeling that we are part of a shared adventure, that together we share a physical, emotional and rational experience, this, here and now. The passion of watching and listening, playing and singing, acting and dancing is one of the original human aspirations that unites artists and spectators. The theatrical atmosphere is spread continuously and everywhere.”
The photo was taken during the last meeting with Mani Gotovac in our Theatre for the premiere of the opera Romeo and Juliet in January 2019.